'Hollyoaks' actress Bronagh Waugh wishes her alter-ego could find a Curly Watts-type love interest to whisk the unlucky-in-love character off her feet

The actress - who plays unlucky-in-love Cheryl Brady in the Channel 4 soap - thinks 'The Office' star Mackenzie Crook could be the perfect person to play a "dopey underdog" who could win the heart of the exuberant Irish club owner, in the style of Coronation Street's much-loved Curly Watts.

Bronagh exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I think Cheryl's ideal man would be Hollyoaks' version of Curly Watts. It needs to be a typical underdog, someone who's a bit dopey and adorable. I would love to see her with someone like Mackenzie Crook from 'The Office'. Just someone really awkward-looking and a bit geeky.

"Cheryl always goes after the Calvin Valentine (Ricky Whittle) types when really she should be going for someone like Gilly (Anthony Quinlan). They would have been perfect for one another, sat at home with a curry and a pint. I'm on a mission to find Hollyoaks' version of Curly Watts."

However, the actress wishes her flirtatious alter-ego would stop being so naïve when it comes to men, as she always seems to attract "psychopaths and killers".

She added: "She attracts such bad things - psychopaths and killers and the like. The men in her life have all been bad, bad people. She's got a beautiful vulnerability and naivety about her, which in one way is the best thing about her but in another way it's her downfall.

"She gets herself in a lot of trouble because she too trusting of people and allows baddies to pull the wool over her eyes. She's got so much love to give and just needs someone to direct her adoration on to."